Buddy punching definition
/What is Buddy Punching?
Buddy punching occurs when one employee asks another person to clock in or out for him. For example, buddy punching could be used to clock in for a person who is running late, or to cover for someone who wants to leave work early. Some buddy punching may seem like a reasonable way to support a friend. For example, an employee has slept late, is on his way to work, and calls ahead to have someone clock him in so that the shift supervisor does not find out. Or, an employee has a sudden child care issue and needs to get to daycare at once without the boss knowing, and so asks someone to clock out on her behalf at quitting time.
No matter what the reason may be, buddy punching is fraudulent behavior, for it involves paying someone for work they did not perform. This can be grounds for termination, both for the employee directly benefiting from the arrangement and the employee who engages in the clocking in or out activity.
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How to Prevent Buddy Punching
It is possible to completely prevent buddy punching by installing a biometric timeclock. These devices rely on a fingerprint, retinal, or hand scanner to verify that the person clocking in is the right person. Alternatively, a business can install video monitoring over the timeclock, to spot buddy punching as it is occurring or after the fact. However, video monitoring is more of a detective control, so that buddy punching will still occur unless someone spends time reviewing the video. A biometric timeclock is a preventive control, in that buddy punching cannot occur in the first place.
Another possibility is to require every employee to enter their time with an employee badge, typically one with a magnetic stripe on the back. An employee who is not at work would have to hand his employee badge over to someone else in order to have it scanned into the system; this is sufficiently inconvenient that it might deter some employees from engaging in buddy punching.
How to Identify Buddy Punching
There are several ways to detect the presence of buddy punching. The essential task is to spot any mismatches between the presence of employees and when the time clock says they punched in or out. One way to do this is by adding cameras to the time clock areas to see if you can spot who is physically clocking in. An enhanced approach to this is to require certain departments to only clock in on specific time clocks, so that you can more easily monitor who is checking in. Another option is to have a security guard physically check in all employees on a checklist as they arrive each day, and then match this list to the clock-in report. A third option is to send a report of all clocked-in employees to their supervisors each day, and have them check to see if the employees are actually present. All of these options are time-consuming for those who have to validate the presence of employees, but it can be cost-effective if you think you have a serious buddy punching problem.